Troubles of a Thalassophobic Fox
by AriaPsiana389
Summary: Kitsune Akemi is a user of a mystical zoan fruit. Not only can she not swim, she is deathly afraid of the ocean. Sadly she is a childhood friend of Luffy, so it'd be natural to ask her to join his crew. Probably not the best idea, right? (not the best summary ever, but it's worth checking out)
1. Chapter 1

**Before we start I better put the definition of Thalassophobia here:**

 _ **Thalassophobia is an intense and persistent fear of the sea. Thalassophobia is a clinical phobia generally classified under specific phobias, fear of a single specific panic trigger. Symptoms for thalassophobia are the same as for most specific phobias.**_

 _ **Thalassophobia can include fear of being in large bodies of water, fear of the vast emptiness of the sea, and fear of distance from land. Thalassophobes may also be afraid of encountering sea creatures rather than the sea itself.**_

 **(I thank Wikipedia for the definitition, I did not write this.)**

 _Gold Roger, the "King of the Pirates," had achieved it all. Wealth, fame and power had all been his. Not suprisingly, the final words he spoke before they lopped off his head inspired adventurers throughout the world to sail the seas._

 _"My treasure? Why, it's right where I left it... It's yours if you can find it... But you'll have to search the whole world!"_

 _The world..._

 _...Is about to witness a great era of piracy!_

 ** _-Ten years ago-_**

Everyone of the pirate ship that had docked here a year ago was sat in the village bar, drinking and eating meat. They gave a toast to a small black-haired boy named Luffy for his courage(?) and for their great voyage.

"Erm... Luffy, I still think that wasn't such a great idea. Any farther up and you could have blinded yourself..." A silvery-white haired girl, known as Akemi, muttered as she refered to the bandage under the boys eye.

Akemi also had small fox ears and a tail the same colour as her hair and red eyes with slitted pupils. Around her neck was a necklace with small stones known as Hoshi-no-Tama, stones said to be the source of a kitsunes power (although these did nothing). She wore light blue clothing, a t-shirt and trousers, as well as a kitsune mask strapped to the side of her head, although it was slightly too big and kept falling down.

"I'm not the least bit afraid of getting hurt! Take me with you on your next voyage! I wanna be a pirate!" Luffy said as he was sat on one of the bar stools.

The pirate next to him just burst out laughing. He was the captain, known as "Red-haired" Shanks, "You!? A pirate!? Impossible! Luffy, do you know why we call you "Anchor"? Because you can't swim- you sink! What good is a pirate who can't swim?"

Luffy wasn't happy hearing this, "But if I don't fall overboard, then it doesn't matter if I'm an anchor! AND I'm a strong fighter!" He stood up on the stool and punch the air at the same time saying, "I've been training with Aki! My punch is as powerful as a pistol!"

Akemi rubbed a sore spot on her arm, "I don't know why I agreed to it..."

"A pistol, eh?" Shanks didn't look convinced, "Is that so..."

"Are you doubting me!?"

It was at that point that Akemi decided to leave as it was getting too loud for her liking.

As she was walking down the street, Akemi saw a group of people that didn't look too kind coming from the other direction, so she decided to hide to avoid confrontation. As they walked past it was then she recognised Higuma, who was leader of the mountain bandits, and they were heading in the direction of the bar that Shanks' crew was at. Akemi thought about running to warn them but she got scared when she thought about what would happen if the bandits found her before she got to the bar.

She decided against it and headed straight for home.

Later Akemi found out that nothing much happened apart from food and alcohol being spilt, a few things smashed... And Luffy ate a devil fruit that turned him into rubber. He was quite upset that he would never be able to swim, even if he wasn't that great at it anyway.

The next day Luffy got tangled up with Higuma and Shanks lost an arm because of a giant eel that nearly ate Luffy. Akemi missed all this because she had to stay home and help out. Although she was there on the day the pirates left.

Luffy had decided to make being a pirate on his own and declared he was going to become the pirate king.

Shanks took off his straw hat and put it on Luffys head, "Do me a favor... Keep this hat safe for me?" Tears started to stream down Luffys face, "This hat means a lot to me. promise me that you'll give it back to me someday... when you become a great pirate."

Luffy said nothing as nearly the whole village watched the pirates leave and their ship sailed away.

Akemi and her family left five years later so her parents could find better jobs.

 **A/N: Yeah, this chapters really short compared to what I normally do but I'm a bit stuck...**

 **I don't know whether or not to start the next chapter on the sea going restaurant or just after Zoro joins on a new island. What do you people think?**

 **To be honest I shouldn't have even posted this yet as I have, like, 7 other stories I'm writing...**

 **Anyway this follows the manga, as you can tell, but Zoro is Zoro not Zolo and the Going Merry isn't the Merry Go.**

 **Please review and tell me what you think!**

 **C'ya~**


	2. Chapter 2

"Aki! Refill!"

"Y-yes."

"Aki! Give this to that table!"

"On it."

A young woman, Kitsune Akemi, was running back an forth between the tables in her adoptive parents bar. A fox tail trailed behind her as she ran.

"Aki! Where's the food that I ordered?"

"S-sorry. It's going to take a little longer."

It was busy. Slightly busier then it normally was. Akemi's coworkers, Haruki and Shiori, were next to the bar, Shiori putting his jacket behind the bar while Haruki was just doing nothing. She did get along with Haruki but there were times she just wanted to scream at him as he tended not to do very well with his work, often messing up, but of course she never really had the courage to do so.

Haruki and Shiori were brothers that lived across the street. They looked alike, both having brown hair and blue eyes, although Shiori was more feminine and was often mistaken for a woman. It didn't help that Shiori could also be a name for a girl. Shiori also had a more gentle personality while Hiruka was... Hiruka.

Aki squeaked when someone tapped her shoulder, Shiori, "Hey, Aki. We can handle the rest from here, go and take your break."

She nodded, "Ok. Good luck." The only people she didn't stutter around was the siblings and her parents as she was used to them.

She went to go and take her place at the bar. After time Aki had become used to the loudness of the bar and it became more bareable. She learned to shut everything out unless someone was talking to her, but there was one thing she would listen out for. News of pirates.

It would have been not long ago that her friend would have left to become the pirate king. Aki would keep an ear out for any news on him. It wouldn't be hard to, he tended to make a lot of noise.

Her mother, who was working behind the bar, stood near her, "Akemi, can you deliver something to your father for me?"

One of Aki's ears twitched, "Ok."

Although her parents owned a local bar, her father was also a blacksmith, one of the only blacksmiths on the small island. So they also owned the only store that dealt with weapons.

Aki was regularly sent to deliver lunch to her father as he often forgot to get food or even eat. At the same time she would help out around the store and picked up a few things on blacksmithing, only the small things on how to sharpen swords and make small blades. Aki wasn't allowed to handle large weapons like maces and battle axes yet, she was only just allowed to handle long swords and Katana. She prefered making handles and hilts as she liked carving the details. A lot of people commented on how someone like Aki shouldn't be near a forge. Her father soon shut them up when he said she made the dagger they had been holding.

Her mother, Suzu, whom ironically wore a bell around her neck, passed over the wrapped lunch to Aki. She walked out the door and instantly headed for the blacksmiths which was nearly on the dock.

Having the blacksmiths on the dock meant that if any pirates or navymen arrived they wouldn't have to look far to get their weapons fixed.

Youto looked up from the counter as soon as Aki stepped in, "Ah, what did Suzu pack for me today?"

Aki passed over the pakage, "You should start bringing it yourself..."

Youto grinned, "Then my darling daughter wouldn't bring it for me! Oh, that reminds me," he reached under the counter and brought out a handle for a dagger, "I fixed the handle. I don't know how you managed to break it like that..."

Aki took the handle and looked it over, there was no sign of damage and it looked exactly like it did the day she made it. It was from the first dagger she made and the decoration was the most simple but it was one of Aki's prized possesions.

"Hiruka wanted to try throwing daggers and managed to get a hold of mine. He threw in wrong and it hit a rock." Aki sighed, "I was thinking of making him some."

"You better get started then, we just got some more iron in. Use it as a brib to get him to do more work." Youto said as Aki headed into the back, "Can you finish the last order before you start though? I've already made the others, there's only one left and another to sharpen."

"Sure."

Aki stood infront of the round stone that would be used to wear down the metal so it became sharper quicker then it did with just a normal whetstone. She picked up the sword that lay next to it and got the stone to start spinning.

After a while of holding the blade of the sword to the stone and flipping it over a few times, sparks flying everywhere, she put the blade in the sheath that had been made for it.

Aki gave the sword to Youto and he gave her the details for the last weapon, a simple short sword.

She instantly set to work, placing a long-ish piece of iron in the forge until it was glowing, taking it out and hitting it with a hammer until it cooled too much. Aki repeated this until it was the shape she needed it to be. She then held it to the stone the same way she did with the previous blade.

 **AN: So I would have done this chapter longer but this may be my only chance to update for a while. I've chosen to start this just before Little Garden as I only have up to book 21 so this fic would find a long time of absence if I waited for the entire crew to show up. Robin hasn't even joined yet. Still feel free so suggest pairings. Also I don't know whether to give her daggers or a staff a her choice of weapon. For the staff, think of the ones they use in Monster Hunter 4, the ones with a kinsect and a hidden blade in the end, only without the kinsect.**

 **Sorry to the person that reviewed this fic, I only understand English so I had to use google translate and it may not be accurate. I have considered OCxLuffy but I need to see what more people think before I make it official.**

 **C'ya next chapter and drop a review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Nearly straight after she had finished with the swords and made a new blade for her dagger, the guy that had ordered them came to pick them up. He was a part of a group of mercineries that were passing through. There were only about 8 of them and they didn't look that strong in the first place. That's what Akemi thought anyway.

The guy wasn't happy when he found out a female made one of the swords and demanded either a refund or the same order for free.

Youto was not happy with this, "I don't see what is wrong with that weapon. It is exactly the same as the others, and I can garuntee that it won't break easily- if at all."

The guy slammed his hands on the counter, "That's not good enough! I will not accept a weapon made by a woman!"

Aki sighed, this happened nearly every time. They would accept a woman serving them at the bar but not when they work in a forge. Akemi was getting tired of it. She was no longer in the mood to make the daggers, she would do that tomorrow when the sexist pig had gone.

"I'm going out, father." Since there was someone she didn't know, her voice had gone quiet again.

"Ok, see you later." Youto smiled at her as she walked out, it instantly turning into a frown when he faced the customer, "That is no reason to-"

Aki headed straight to the beach. It was where she went to try and get over her fear.

Her deep rooted fear of the sea.

It had been with her since she was little but that was any deep water, just after she got her devil fruit powers was when it had gotten worse. She couldn't remember how it had gotten worse but knew it was somehow linked with her real parents and why she was adopted.

At the moment she could barely get ten metres away from the shore before she started to feel uncomfortable. 5 metres before she felt queasy and she could stand with the water nearly touching her feet before she felt like she couldn't move. Aki wouldn't go in the water anyway, not the seawater. She made sure she wore shoes anyway. The sea and devil fruits do not mix. She had to take sedatives just to get on a boat.

Right now she was stood 2 metres away from the water and was watching as a strange looking ship was heading towards the dock, ears pinned back against her head. It had a ram as the figure head which made it look funny instead of intimidating as it was supposed to. A large gust of wind made the sails bend.

Aki tilted her head and her ears pricked as she watched a yellow object loated in the wind towards her. Someone tried reaching for it but it moved to fast. Another gust of wind and it picked up speed. As it flew over her head she tried to catch it but she wasn't tall enough.

Curiosity got the better of her and she followed it into the trees behind the beach. AKi turned into her fox form as she ran. Instead of one tail she had two, which meant she was the size of a dog.

The amount of tails she had controlled her size in fox form. One the size of a cat to nine, the size on a single story house. Aki could only access four tails at her current level. She had used more but couldn't do it at will, they only appeared when it was needed to defend herself.

Akemi found the object on the grass not far away from the edge of her town. It was a hat, a strawhat. The hat had a familiar scent along with a bunch of new scents. She sniffed the hat again as if to confirm it, then nodded.

Aki picked up the hat, her tails wagging like a dog's, and headed for the docks, that's where the ship was going.

When she got to the dock there was a group of five people stood talking to each other. One of them had his back to the others looking around frantically, as if looking or something.

Akemi turned back into her half human form and ran over to them, instantly regretting it when all four, minus the one that had his back to the others, turned to look at her. She did not think this through.

"Ah! What a pretty lady~" One of them said, he had blond hair, which covered on eye, and curly eyebrows.

Aki's face instantly heated up, and not just because of the blond's comment, "Umm... I-I have Luffy's h-hat..." She only just managed to squeak out. She sounded more like a mouse than a fox and her tail twitched from her nervousness.

A green haired guy with a sword strapped to his hip raised an eyebrow, "You know our captain?"

Aki nodded and was about to open her mouth when Luffy whirled round.

"Someone found my hat!?" Aki handed him the hat, "Hey, thanks! I thought I'd lost it for- Aki?"

Akemi nearly facepalmed at how long it took for Luffy to recognise her. Instead she tackled him in a hug, shyness instantly disappeared, "It's been ten years! I've missed you!"

"Ok, anyone know what's going on here?"

Akemi brought Luffy and his friends to her parents bar where she (with the help of Luffy and her mother) explained her connection to Luffy and why she was no longer on their home island.

"Excuse me. What did you say your name was again?" The female, Nami, asked, the only one other than the blond guy not wolfing down drinks or food.

Her parents would regret letting them have free rounds.

"A-Akemi. Kitsune Akemi." Aki was stood next to the table instead of sitting down. She politely bowed, "B-but, please, call me Aki."

"It's hard to believe you grew up with Luffy. I mean you're..."

"Completely different?" Suzu nodded, "That's what I thought when Aki introduced us to the kid."

"Us?" The guy with the long nose, Usopp, asked a bit confused.

Luffy perked up slightly, remembering something, "Oh yeah! Where's old man Yuuto?"

"Father's hardly a-an old man..."

 **AN: Yay chapter 3! Sorry, would've written it longer and I'll most likely say this every chapter 'cause I always want to write a chapter longer than it is. There is a high possibility that I will rewrite the first chapter as I need to buff it up a lot and include more detail, I may also buff up the second and this chapter later.**

 **Anyway thanks for your reviews, I appreciate it. And I can't believe I got so many follows/favourites in such a short time! This is a first, even just to have double digits!**

 **Same questions as last chapter, shipping, ect. Oh yeah, Zoro only has one sword because this is almost directly before rogue town (if that's the name)**

 **c'ya~**


	4. Chapter 4

Akemi was once again running around the bar, a tray full of plates and glasses in each hand. It was even busier than the previous day, both brothers were even on the same shift as her mother was swamped in the kitchen. Suzu even happily agreed to having Luffy's cook help her out, she didn't even know how it happened. Either way, she couldn't wait for the rush hour to finish so she could catch up with her old friend, she had promised to take Luffy and his crew around the island anyway.

She smiled slightly at the thought, though in her rushing around she didn't notice the extended leg in front of her before she was already of the floor. The trays clattered around her, plates and glasses smashing. Everything went quiet as if no one dared to speak or even move.

Everyone except the man that had tripped her, and she recognized that voice.

"Maybe that would make up for the money you took from us."

It was the man from the store, he may have not sounded happy before but now he certainly did.

A second later, she was sat up picking up all the larger shards of glass and plate. The twins were at her side by then, helping her clean up with a pan and brush, Hiruka glaring daggers at the man that tripped Akemi.

Once she knew things were taken care of, Aki stood up, looking at the man directly in the eyes. Though it was killing her on the inside being so forward. She pointed at the door, ears pinned back against her head in an obvious sign her confidence was just an act.

"O-out." She ordered, voice shaking, though the man seemed to only be more amused by this.

"What was that, little girl?"

In the corner of her eyes she caught Luffy standing up as if he was ready to intervene at any second.

She swallowed before repeating herself, managing to stop the shaking in her voice, "We don't need people like you here, so leave. Either peacefully or I will use force."

He burst out laughing, standing up as if to intimidate her. From her angle, he did look twice her height, which only brought back her shaking, and her hand that was still by her side gripped the glass shards tightly. The pain from that seemed to be the only thing keeping her mind straight, she could deal with some cuts better than confrontation.

"What's a little thing like you going to do, hmm? Hey, boys! Look at this! The little fox is trying to be a big wolf! Think we sho-"

Before he even had chance to finish his sentence, one she didn't want to know where it was going, there was a foot in his face and he was flying across the room.

"I believe the lady told you to leave." Came a familiar voice from next to her. The serious tone surprised her slightly as she had only ever heard him swooning over women, which included her the moment he laid eyes on her.

She was almost expecting all hell to break loose, but the other people with the man had already been taken out by Luffy and that green haired guy. All Akemi could do was stare at the three in shock. The others that were with that man looked as if they were about to cause trouble, as Luffy had commented.

Aki blinked before looking at her friend. "L-Luffy… Where the hell did you f-find these people!?"

Luffy gave Aki a cheeky grin as everyone else went back to chatting, eating and whatever else they were doing before the little scene.

"Ah, Aki-chan, your hand is bleeding!" The blond said, and before he even finished, her hand was in both of his.

Akemi was trying not to die of embarrassment from Sanji fussing over the scratches on her hand, even going as far as dragging her into the back to get it cleaned. Though that only caused Suzu to fuss too, though she had to focus more on remaking all the food that was dropped on the floor. At least things were starting to quiet down. Well, that's what she thought as she watched through the door to the bar, waiting so she could go back to work.

"You were very brave Aki-chan." Came Sanji's voice from next to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She looked at the odd blond. "Ah, n-no… That's not true. I-I'm a nervous wreck all the time. Sometimes I think I-I should be a Chihuahua instead of a f-fox."

"Aki-chan, you're so modest! It's adorable~" He said, hugging the girl before she got a chance to escape.

Judging by the light chuckling coming from the back of the room showed that Suzu was enjoying the torment Akemi was going through. Only turning into actual laughter as she sent her adoptive mother a look that said, 'help me' when she when she went past to deliver some plates outside.

Aki had managed to escape by the time Suzu came back.

"Alright you two, you can leave now. Thank you, Sanji, for helping but I should be able to handle everything for the rest of the day." She said before looking at Aki. "And with that hand you won't be able to do as much so just take Yuuto his lunch and you can go take that lot around the island. The lads can do everything else."

Though before either of them could say anything, Suzu shoved a lunch into Aki's arms and physically forced them out of the kitchen. Sanji seemed a little confused though soon left Aki's side to go over to the rest of Luffy's crew. Akemi went over to join them, though had to keep the lunch away from Luffy's grabbing hands. The boy would do anything for food after all.

"I-I have to take this to F-father's shop, but I can show you around a-after if you want? Father would love to s-see you again, Luffy." Aki said, looking at the group.

The only female of the lot smiled and nodded, "That would be great, thank you."

Aki returned the smile before heading outside, the small group of pirates following behind which only made her feel awkward.

But then the questions began. Though she didn't actually mind.

"So, if you grew up with our captain, how come you're here?" Came a question from Ussop.

"There j-just wasn't enough work for my parents. T-the village back home is only small and they already had a bar. Father i-is also a blacksmith and he h-had heard this was the perfect place for him." She answered.

"Hey, Zoro, maybe you'll be able to get a new sword or two." The curly haired guy said, nudging the swordsman in the side, though he got no answer.

There were many other questions, from each of the crew, except Luffy since he knew all the answers. Well, she happily answered all questions except one.

"I thought Luffy would have brought you with him. Why aren't you at sea too? Luffy won't tell us."

Aki just flushed at the question before ducking into her father's shop. It wasn't something she wanted everyone to know after all. Being afraid of the ocean was quite embarrassing, especially in this pirate age.

"Ah, Aki! I wondered when you would be showing up! Oh, who are these people that are with you? Not like you to have company." Yuuto smiled at his daughter when she walked in, looking up from the desk.

Though Luffy instantly perked up. "Old man Yuuto!"

This confused the man for a few seconds before a look of recognition came across his face. "Luffy! You've gotten taller! Suzu told me you were in town."

"You just look old."

"Luffy! Father isn't an old man!" Aki protested before disappearing into the back.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _I'M ALIVE! Ok, I realised that I seriously need to rewrite the previous chapters. I just feel like they are complete bull honky. Also me and a friend are working on making Aki her own crew, one that she will travel with for a while (I think just mainly when I catch up to where I actually am in the manga, I don't watch the anime) Also, since I'm going by the manga names so people and place will be slightly different, cant remember if I've said this before. I would have called Zoro "Zolo" but I already know him by that._

 _Still taking requests of who to ship Aki with ^^ I'm automatically leaning towards Sanji since he's my favourite character, but I will try to put Luffy moments in there since I know someone has said that's what they wanted ^^_

 _C'ya next chapter!_


	5. Chapter 5

Yuuto managed to keep Luffy for a while, meaning that their little tour had to be put off until they were done. Luffy didn't seem to mind too much… Until he got bored of it all and forcefully dragged Aki outside to show him around. Though even after so long she didn't seem mind, she still felt comfortable around the boy.

Showing her old friends crew around the small island, she couldn't help but notice quirks about each one of them. Luffy she already knew and he hadn't seemed to change much at all. But everyone else… Well, they were a different story. She had managed to hear a little about how each of them joined Luffy, though she had to admit each of them didn't sound like they had much of a choice.

Zoro had been an ex-bounty hunter that had been somehow caught by the marines. After Luffy freed him for the sole purpose of joining his crew, just that happened. Nami… Well it just seemed like Nami just appeared one day, only becoming a true member of the crew when something with a group of fishmen happened. Ussop was, surprisingly, Yassop's son, one of Shank's crew. Aki faintly remembered the man going on about his son but when she found out that was the Ussop in front of her she was surprised. She soon found the curly haired guy was fond of telling tales that she knew weren't true. Sanji had been working at the sea going restaurant, Baratie, before Luffy came along. She had heard of the place a few times from passerby's, that a famous pirate, now retired, worked there. No wonder the blonds kick was so strong. He also had a dream of finding the all blue, a part of the sea that fish from every part of the world could live in one place. His fondness of the opposite sex was clear and she didn't need to be told about that.

All of them brought together by a stretchy boy that dreamed to become the king of the pirates.

"Luffy… Y-you still surprise me, even now." Akemi sighed.

Luffy grinned, taking it as a compliment, which it wasn't far from. "You can still join us! You must be getting better by now!"

"A-ah! N-no, I'm afraid that's n-not the case…" She said, becoming a little flustered at the thought. As much as she wanted, she just… couldn't.

"Oh, that's right. Aki, you never told us why you aren't with Luffy." Nami asked.

"Are you sick?" She heard Sanji say, a little surprised at how close to her he sounded.

"N-no. It's not something I-I usually share with people." Aki said, starting to get uncomfortable, fidgeting with her hands, pulling lightly at the bandage on her left, and her ears held slightly back, tail hanging low.

Though after a glance at Luffy she could tell he trusted these people, why else would they be on his crew? They had only been kind to her in this short time after all. She had no reason not to trust them, and they had been open to her… to some extent.

Much to her relief, their attention was once again turned to something else. One of the small group was missing. The swordsman, Zoro, seemed to have wandered off. The others didn't seem too worried about it, since it seemed to have happened many times, they just thought it would be a good idea to find him.

And finding him was the last thing they did that day, returning to the bar where Suzu had set up a few guest rooms for the lot. Even if one or two had to share. Well, it was more like the boys had to have two per room while Nami got one to herself for being the only female of the group, no complaints on her end. Luffy and Akemi weren't kids either anymore so he couldn't even share a room with her, like they used to do every once in a while. Though she knew Luffy was harmless. She had to admit it took everything not to cling to Luffy 24/7, he was probably the only reason why she wasn't dying every time she spoke to someone new.

Aki sighed as she sat at the desk in her room, carving away at an object that looked similar to a hilt for a dagger. She did that often to take her mind of things when everything got too much, that and she could use the designs to make something ornamental, a request that they sometimes got from collectors. Her palm stung as she gripped onto the object, the cuts getting irritated by the pressure.

She had to admit she didn't know why she was so embarrassed to tell the group about her phobia, but she supposed it was because so many people had laughed at her. When she said that she wanted to get over her fear to help out Luffy, they just said she would be useless to any pirate, even with her having a fruit power. Either way, she just had to get over this fear that her real parents had given her.

She had been in a bad way by the time her adoptive parents had found her, her real ones having had messed her up in ways that she would find it difficult to recover from. Refusing to leave the house, staying in her room all day and night. She had only just started leaving her room when Luffy came along and just dragged her, literally, outside. She was probably too shocked at the time to do anything against the boy. He even found her devil fruit powers cool, though for a long time he actually thought she was a real fox. He had only found out her fear by mistake when he had tried to drag her onto a boat, she couldn't remember why.

She didn't speak to him for a week afterwards.

Though, now, maybe she could join him? She had ways of keeping herself calm, and if she stayed inside she wouldn't be so bad. Suzu could manage with the twins, Hiruka would just have to get his act into gear and do more work. Yuuto didn't really need her either, he just let her do whatever she wanted.

In fact her adoptive parents would probably want her to go, it would help her fears. Well, that's what they would say, if it actually would that was another idea. It would also give her a chance to see all sorts of new places, that would be cool.

Either way, she knew tomorrow she would tell the others about her fear and depending on what they say, she would decide whether she would join him or not. Though if she wanted she could go on her own and just ask Luffy to help start her off, dropping her on the next island.

Aki sighed with a shake of her head before placing down the object and going over to flop onto her bed. Too many thoughts were going around her head so she tried to focus onto one thing for a while, and once her mind was clear enough she allowed herself to fall asleep.

* * *

 _ **A/N:** This isn't as long as I had hoped it would be. I was going to put a bunch of flashbacks and stuff in to give more sense of her history... but I'm on kennel duties and I'm knackered so they'll have a chapter of their own, which is the next one... How can dog walking tire you out so much? Well, I do have dodgy joints so I do find it painful and I think England is having a heatwave, well it feels like that (friend even had to stop her duties cause she got heatstroke)_

 _Anyway, after talking to someone, I've decided I may do a "what-if" with Aki. One of them being what if I brought her in a little earlier than I did this time (just after the whole Arlong fiasco) and if I paired her with different characters at the same time. What d'ya think? I'll see what you guys think to it before I make my final decision._

 _Also we've had Zoro/Zolo, Sanji and Luffy (basically the main three) as suggestions for Aki ^^ Statistics once more people have said, I'll put a poll up when I have a break_

 _C'ya next time! (I wont ramble so much too )_


	6. Chapter 6

**Child Abuse Warning! Not too heavy, I think, just warning in case anyone is sensitive about this stuff, but I'll skim past this as quickly as possible, this is a T after all. Look for the bold writing for when the happier stuff starts ^^**

 _It was dark, the five-year-old couldn't breath and it was difficult to get a sense of direction. She knew what was happening. This happened at least once a week. It was awful. She could see large creatures moving around not that far from her, but they either hadn't noticed her yet or she was too small for them to bother. However, none of this mattered to her right now. Her mind was already panicking, she only noticed the movement. She would have swallowed if she could, but she was paralyzed with fear._

 _Something touched her leg and she jumped, whatever air her lungs held escaped in bubbles to the surface. She could see the light above her, a small shadow blocking out a section, and tried to work herself to swim to the surface._

 _She had only just managed to get a single breath before she was pushed back under the water._

 _It wasn't until the darkness started to creep further into her vision that she could get her breath back. They didn't push her back under the water either, allowing her to claw onto the small boat that had been above her. She ignored the voices as she tried to curl up into the smallest ball possible, coughing to get the water out of her lungs, trying to just disappear. She hated this, she hated her life, she hated being scared all the time. She had watched all the other kids her age from her bedroom window, none of them were like her. They were allowed to leave their house, they were allowed to socialize with the other kids. She didn't understand. She was just like all those other kids, nothing about her was strange for all she knew. She had dark hair and blue eyes, completely normal._

 _It was after she asked her parents why she wasn't with the other kids that all_ this _started happening. They called her ungrateful, disobedient and rude. Just after one question. It didn't stop at the torturous drownings, to which they never let her die. She was hit, cut, beaten until she was unconscious, the constant beatings were the worst since she didn't know when they would end. Whenever the doctor was called, he never questioned, told that she kept sneaking off and coming back like this._

 _Her parents hadn't even used her name, she didn't even know what she was called. She didn't even think she had one._

 _But one night made everything worse…_

 _Small feet softly hit the floor, trying to be as quiet as the girl could possibly be. She knew what she was doing had massive consequences, but she hadn't eaten for three days and the last drowning attempt had exhausted her. She needed to eat otherwise she wouldn't have the energy for whatever was thrown at her next, if she didn't respond properly it would have been worse for her anyway. It was more the question of, which pain was easier to handle, and she knew the answer. The people that kept her here, the ones that didn't deserve to be called parents, had been out all day and came back with all sorts of things. What she had heard, they had made some deals with someone in the market as they had gotten something rare._

 _Though the girl didn't care about any of that. She thought only about food right now, so sneaking past their bedroom and down the stairs to the kitchen. She was about to head straight to the storeroom in the back until she noticed something. A large fruit-like thing sat on the counter just in reach. It was a slightly odd shape and pale in colour, hard to tell what colour when it was so dark. It seemed to call to her, slowly getting closer to it, though that was likely her mind just wanting to eat the first thing that she saw. She could only just reach it, having to drag it slightly off the edge of the counter with her small arms. Almost dropping it, she looked over the odd fruit, curiosity getting the better of her. It didn't smell bad, didn't really smell at all._

 _It wasn't until it was entirely gone, and she was heading to the storeroom again, that the kitchen door swung open, hitting the wall with a loud noise._

 _A large, intimidating man stood in the doorway, a woman stood behind him looking at the girl as if she was less than dirt. The man looked around for a moment or two before he looked at her, eyes filled with rage._

 _"_ _Where the hell is the fruit!?" He shouted, looking her over as she shrank back._

 _She tried to get as far into the corner as possible when the woman's eyes widened for a second before narrowing again._

 _"_ _You ate it! How dare you!? You worthless piece of- No, you're not even that." She said, stalking towards the girl before landing a swift slap to the cheek, the girl stumbling._

 _The girl hadn't even noticed the change to her while all this was going on, she was more concerned with other matters._

 _It wasn't long before another blow hit her, this time a kick sending her onto the floor, head hitting the door behind her. She whimpered, curling into a ball in a way to defend herself. But that didn't stop the rest of the assault. She tried her best to shut it all out, only that failed when she felt herself being lifted. A door opened and the cold night air hit her skin, she didn't need to open her eyes to know exactly what they were doing._

 _"_ _That fruit is going to make this a lot more easier to do." She heard one of them say, too out of it to even recognize which._

 _There was the sound of waves, really close waves. A slight feeling of rocking then the noise of oars moving, she was roughly dropped to the floor. She really didn't want to open her eyes, she was too scared._

 _But something about this time was a lot different, as soon as she hit the water she felt weak, incredibly weak. It was almost as if the sea was draining every last bit of energy she had left. The two adults didn't even bother holding her under for long since after a few moments, she didn't have enough energy to struggle. She couldn't even hold the air in her lungs for long. But that wasn't the only different thing. No, they left her where she was, no sign of them pulling her out this time when she started to fade. She caught the sight of their small boat leaving just before everything went completely black._

 _She was sure she would die this time._

 **That's that, abuse over and as little detail as I could possibly write it in.**

Akemi woke with a start, shaking violently at the nightmares that had plagued her mind that night. No. Not nightmares. Memories.

She sat up, breathing heavily as she tried to calm herself down, clothes and hair stuck to herself with sweat. She looked around her room as if reminding herself of where she was. Aki then curled up on herself once she was certain she was at home, in her room at Suzu and Yuuto's bar. This wasn't the first time this had happened after all.

After a while, Aki got up and dressed. She needed to get out of the building and at least go for a walk to calm herself completely. Maybe she should head to the forge to finish any orders? Yeah, that usually calmed her.

With a slight grumble, she headed outside, trying to keep as quiet as possible as not to wake Luffy and the others. Once out, she headed straight to Yuuto's forge.

While she was walking, she thought about the events after the nightmare had ended. It was straight after that she had met Suzu and Yuuto, even if she was wary of the two at first.

 _It felt like she was floating there for eternity, everything black. The darkness was oddly comforting and she felt none of the previous pain before she passed out._

 _Though that didn't last as long as she had hoped for, her young mind didn't want to wake up, it wanted to stay in that state forever. But as she slowly started to come to, the pain started to take hold again. Her body ached more than anything and her head felt like it was splitting in two. She whimpered as she sat up, half expecting to be on solid ground._

 _No, instead she found herself in a bed and it was not her bed. Not that cheap, nasty mattress that was found on the streets. It was one of the most comfortable things in the world to her. But that wasn't the thing she took most note of. No, there was a woman sat on a chair next to the bed she had taken. She had a kind look on her face, even when sleeping, a bell hung around her neck. Though as soon as the girl made to get out of the bed, the woman's eyes opened and she gently pushed her back onto the bed, though the sudden movement had made her flinch._

 _"_ _Don't move, just try to get as much rest as possible. You look like you've been through a lot, you poor thing." The woman said softly, giving her a smile. "But I must ask, what was someone like you doing in the sea? Did you fall from a boat? Though I suppose someone as young as you must not know what the sea does to devil fruit users."_

 _The girl just blinked back at the woman, confused as to what she was going on about. None of this she had ever heard of before. She had never even heard of a devil fruit. But instead of asking, she just looked down at the covers of the bed. She didn't want to risk upsetting this woman. She may have been acting kind now, but who knew if that was just an act to get her guard down._

 _"_ _Ah, forgive me for all the questions. Try to get some more sleep, ok? I'll bring you something to eat soon. You can tell me everything once you get your strength back." The woman smiled once more before getting up and tucking the girl in, leaving the room soon after, leaving the girl even more confused._

 _She didn't understand why they were being so kind to her. No one was this kind unless they wanted something from her, or so she was told. But she couldn't turn down the thought of more sleep, she didn't even have to force herself to close her eyes, she was just gone._

 _The woman came back a few times after that, the girl still didn't talk though and she didn't seem to care. The girl hadn't left the room since. The woman, Suzu, as she had learned, was a patient woman. She wouldn't force her to answer any questions she asked. Instead she gave her little bits of information about herself._

 _Suzu had a husband, Yuuto, and they were visiting the island for a few weeks to get some supplies for Yuuto's forge he ran one another island. Though they didn't receive many customers there, though bandits were a regular thing in the area. They had found the girl on the shore of the island, taking her straight to their room at the inn. Yuuto came into her room a few times and he seemed nice like Suzu._

 _The girl had to admit that the pair were growing on her quickly, but no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't bring herself to trust them completely. She hated herself for that as, after quite a few days, she could tell that the two had no ulterior motives, and didn't get made at her even after she refused to speak. In fact, that just seemed to make them pity her further. She just wasn't used to so much positive attention._

 _However, when she did finally speak to them, it took them by surprise. They probably had thought she was mute by now._

 _It was when Suzu was checking the girls injuries and Yuuto was making sure everything was tidy, though he seemed to forget what he was doing a few times._

 _The girl watched them carefully, it was only until Suzu started to walk away that she spoke up._

 _"_ _Th-thank y-you." The girl said in such a soft voice it was barely above a whisper, even bowing slightly._

 _Both stopped what they were doing, looking straight at her which only made her more nervous. But instead of fussing, Suzu just smiled and gave her a nod before leaving with her husband trailing after. Though they both looked like they had just been given a pile of priceless jewels._

 _She had spoken to them a few more times after that, and it wasn't until a few days before they were to leave that they found out the girl had no name. They asked one or two more questions and had managed to get out of her why she was where they had found her._

 _It seemed as if she had no choice of returning to their island with them. The both of them refused to let her return to a home that had thrown her away so easily, or let her live the streets. Yuuto had said that it would ease their minds if she was with them. Even after she had asked how she could repay their kindness, they said that as long as she was looked after they didn't care._

 _That was when the girl finally started to trust the two completely. That was when she had received her name. They called her Kitsune Akemi because of her fox-like features. They named her after a mythical creature, and not after themselves. They said it was so she could make a life for herself once she was old enough and not have to worry about them._

 _But when they finally left for home, they learned about Akemi's phobia. She was terrified of the sea._

 _When she approached the docks, she started to get flashbacks. She started to see the monsters that lived there and how it felt to have her energy drained from her body by something as simple as salt water. She started to remember all the times that her 'parents' had tortured her. She broke down that day and Yuuto had to carry a feinted Akemi onto their ship._

 _She was lucky that the journey was short._

 _After that Aki refused to leave her own room. She didn't want to go anywhere near the sea in case she broke down again. She hated herself for doing that, and she hated having burdened the couple even further. She had to stay behind every time the couple left the island, even one of them had to stay behind meaning the other couldn't bring as much back as they needed to._

 _Akemi holed herself up in her room for most of the time. Though after a while, almost a year of being with the couple, Aki started to leave. She had become fed up with herself and curiosity had gotten the better of herself._

 _It was about a week after Akemi had started to leave the house that she had met a young boy named Luffy. He was odd, energetic and Akemi found herself worrying about him a lot. He got himself into trouble so many times it was unbelievable…_

 _Aki stepped outside and looked around the garden. She never really went much further than that. There were so many unfamiliar faces around and she was uncertain on which ones she could trust. Though Suzu and Yuuto ensured that hardly anyone on the island was unfriendly, she still couldn't trust if anyone wasn't a bandit. No matter how many times the two tried to get her to play with the other children of her age. She was wary if they would even like her with how different she was now. She didn't exactly look that human anymore with her white hair, fox-like ears and a tail._

 _She was soon snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed a boy heading her way, though she thought he was just going to walk past._

 _"_ _Hey, cat girl. I haven't seen you around here before. Are those real?" He asked, not giving her much time to think. But after a few moments of silence, he spoke again, "I'm talking to you, you know. It's rude to ignore people!"_

 _"_ _O-oh… Uh… S-sorry." Aki replied quietly, though a squeak of surprise escaped her when the boy jumped the fence._

 _The next thing she knew, he was tugging at her ear. She didn't know how to react, no one had ever been so forward with her before._

 _"_ _So are these real or not? They feel real." He said, once again not giving her much time to answer. "Wait… You're a real cat person!"_

 _"_ _F-fox actually…" Aki said. "And y-yes they're real."_

 _"_ _That's so cool! I'm Luffy by the way!" Luffy grinned at her, finally letting go of her ear. "What's your name, cat girl?"_

 _Akemi blinked, looking the boy over before she replied. "A-Akemi. And I-I'm a fox n-not a cat." She was just happy he didn't seem scared of her or anything like that._

 _"_ _Nice to meet you Aki! Oh! I know! I'm going to show you around! Let's go!" Luffy said, practically jumping for joy. Though she had no choice in the matter as Luffy grabbed her hand and started to drag her along._

 _Luffy grew on Aki quickly, though there wasn't much choice in that matter and Luffy seemed to draw people to him. Anyone that knew him either hated him or liked him, even if they weren't open about it. There were very few that seemed to hate him on the island and that was mainly because he was way too much to handle. At least Aki had someone her age to hang out with now._

 _That was how things went until a pirate crew came to the island with a captain of the name of Shanks came to the island._

Akemi sighed with a slight smile on her face as she sat down in the back room of the forge. Somehow thinking about the times back at the old village cheered her up a lot. Especially when she thought about her time with Luffy. Though there were a few other kids their, the closest one she was with was Luffy since he was technically her first friend.

Aki was so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that someone had walked in, standing at the door to the room. Apparently she had forgotten to lock the door.

* * *

 ** _A/N:_** _Longest. Chapter. EVER! This is literally the longest I have ever written and will likely write for a while._

 _I must admit that I would have liked to have expressed the beginning of this chapter in more detail but it was a little difficult for me to write, emotionally. I may have not been targeted by child abuse, but my mother was targeted by domestic abuse, sometimes me and my sister getting caught in it and I hate my father for that. I know this isn't the place to be talking about this so that's all I'll say. Plus that was over 10 years ago, I only remember that it happened and not what happened._

 _Anyway! Thanks guys for reviews and I wasn't expecting this to be so popular! This is literally the most popular fanfic I have (most follows, favorites and reviews based on how many chapters it has) though it is one of my only none crossovers so I guess that's expected! I forgot to say thank you last chapter so I'll say it in this one! Any replies to reviews I'll have to do next chapter as I am so tired right now._

 _Put up a poll for Aki's partner, of course more choices will be added the further I get in the manga and with any oc characters. Unfortunately I only pair do MxF pairings._

 _THANK YOU! And see ya next chapter!_


	7. Chapter 7

Akemi was so absorbed in her own thoughts and the blade in her hands that was slowly taking shape, that she didn't notice someone standing in the doorway to the back room at the forge. They slowly and very quietly stepped closer to Aki. It was clear they had no good intentions, clear by the glint of steel in their hand. A small dagger, plain and certainly not one from the store. That was slightly odd since in a weapons store you would have thought they would have just grabbed what was there, especially when they had to go through that to get to the back room.

In one swift movement, the person lunged, catching Akemi by surprise and startling her out of her thoughts. However, she narrowly avoided a serious injury. The sword in her hands clattered to the ground, useless in its unfinished state.

"W-who are y-y-you and how d-did you get in h-here!?" Aki stuttered, eyes wide with shock. She had locked the door, that she was sure of. Had she been that out of it that she didn't hear them break in?

Her hand reached down to grab her own dagger… but all it did was grasp air. Crap. She forgot that she didn't bring it with her. She never did when she came here at night, she had plenty of stuff to defend herself with anyway. She'd have to use her fangs instead, not something she liked to do. Though when instead of answering, the person she now knew was a man, lunged again Aki swiftly changed.

Three tails meant that the tips of her ears reached the man's shoulders. This was large enough to do plenty of damage but not too large to the point of everything getting in the way.

She dodged the attack and circled around behind the man. She crouched low to the ground, growling a warning. "I asked you a question." She said, managing not to stutter. That would not be intimidating at all.

The man didn't seem surprised, but once more he didn't answer her. Maybe he couldn't talk? Or he was just rude. This time she was the one to attack, swiping her paws to try and take him out. Though surprisingly, he was a fast mover. No rookie that was for sure. She managed to scratch him before making a go for the arm that held the dagger with a bite. Maybe give him tetanus if he got away (not like she had that, but you never know.) This was one move he could not dodge and Aki soon had her teeth sunk into his arm with no signs of budging. She growled and shook his arm like a dog with a toy, threatening to rip it off if she was stronger. The man cried out, dropping the dagger and tried desperately to prize her jaws from his arm. He even tried to hit her a few times but once she had her jaws on something she would not let go, almost like a status dog. She could taste his blood but she really didn't care, this man was trespassing and tried to attack her. She didn't even know why. She would not let go, perhaps drag him out to have Yuuto deal with.

That was until there was a sharp pain to her side. Her grip tightened until the blade was twisted, forcing her to let go to avoid further injury. She yelped at the pain and instantly moved away from the man that had somehow gotten the dagger to his other hand. What was wrong with her? She had failed to notice so much that night. This was not like Akemi at all.

The man dropped the dagger as soon as she had moved away, instead favoring to hold his bleeding arm to himself. He backed away, but there was nowhere to back away far to. Unless he wanted to burn in a forge that is. He seemed to know that his chances had just gotten a lot slimmer of getting away. Aki wasn't fairing much better either. A wound to the side was never a good thing.

"A-again… Why are you doing th-this?" Akemi demanded, standing her ground.

The man was silent for a while before he finally spoke up. "I was hired to wreck this place. The guy said something about swords?"

So it was the man that came in earlier that hired this guy. Aki knew something bad would happen, he had seemed so determined to get his own way even if it was over something so simple. She couldn't understand why the man was so obsessed with getting back at them just because of a few swords made by a woman. She knew some people thought that bringing women on a ship was bad luck, but she certainly hadn't heard about anything like that with weapons. Not that she could remember anyway, perhaps she should look into that later?

Her concentration was slowly starting to get worse, the pain in her side reminding her of why.

"I see…" Akemi muttered, about to open her mouth to speak again before the man lunged forwards, ready to attack again.

There was a flash of green in the corner of her eye and the next thing she knew, the man was on the floor, bleeding from various places. Akemi looked up to see Zoro at her side, now carrying three swords instead of one. She recognized two of them as ones that they had on display.

"Geez… Why is this place so hard to find?" Zoro grumbled, glancing down at Akemi before sighing. "Sorry I had to use the swords in the front room. I'll pay for any damages."

Akemi shook her head and willed herself to change back to being human. She moved forward, grabbing the nearest thing she could to tie the man up. She'd get Yuuto to sort the rest out in the morning. She just wanted to go back to bed right about now.

"N-no. They're there to be u-used. They'll just n-need cleaning." She said before stepping away from the now bound man, not commenting on the fact that the store was only up the road from where everyone was staying.

It wasn't long before the two of them had returned to the bar, Zoro having dragged the man back with him. Yuuto was waiting for the man to wake up before he would start questioning him about the whereabouts of the guy that started all of this while Suzu was once again patching up Akemi. The rest of the crew were already awake by the time they got back and it seemed that they were ready to head to the store. Turned out that Nami had sent Zoro after Akemi once she had noticed the girl leaving. Though he ended up getting lost on the way there, Nami realizing her mistake shortly after, woke up the rest of the crew. Especially after she had spotted some people sneaking around earlier. It was a good job she had, even if Zoro had gotten lost on the way, it had saved her from much worse injuries.

Akemi was starting to owe a lot to her friend's crew. She would have to think of a way to repay them.

* * *

 **A/N: Ok guys, sorry it took me so long to get this out, and that it's shorter than I had hoped for it to be. But next chapter is where this island comes to a close hopefully, then we get started on the canon.**

 **Now for why this took so long. I lost my memory stick with all my fanfics on it, found it this morning so I decided to finish up this chapter, get it uploaded and make next chapter longer to get to the end of this island.**

 **But thank you all for the favourites and follows! Drop a review and tell me what you think!**


	8. Chapter 8

Two days had passed since the incident at the shop. Akemi was pretty much confined to her room and the bar during quiet times to prevent her from getting into any more trouble until her wound had at least sealed itself. The man still hadn't given away the location as to where his boss was. Though they did seem to get some sort of apology. Apparently, he wasn't hired to cause any physical harm to anyone, and he didn't want to. He thought that no one was going to be there at that time of night. He said it was mainly that he simply didn't know what to do when he saw someone stood there, someone that clearly had devil fruit powers. Luffy's crew certainly weren't happy with the entire thing. They had split up to do various things on the island, either trying to help find the culprit or gather supplies for when they left. They kept extending their stay, which made Akemi feel guilty each time they said it. She really had to think of something to do to help them.

Yuuto had given Zoro the two swords he had used that night. They weren't of great quality since they mainly were for practicing, but they would last until he was able to get something better. Yuuto said he was too busy with cleaning up the store to make Zoro proper ones, and that they didn't know how long they were staying so he didn't know if he had enough time.

The bar had only just closed. It usually did for an hour or two in order to give the staff a break and to make sure that they had enough time to pick up more supplies of anything they were running low on. Nami, for reasons Aki did not know, was up in Akemi's room. The other female was a little taller than her, which meant that Akemi was still the shortest of everyone she knew that wasn't a child.

Nami seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that Akemi had some clothes that she wanted rid of. Aki was never one to be too fussed about anything girly. Suzu constantly tried to get her adopted daughter to wear girlier clothes. It wasn't just that either, anything that was sleeveless or showed and back or stomach, Akemi usually shoved at the back of her closet.

Aki was sat on her bed, a pile of clothes that the other female had chosen, next to her, while Nami was sat at Aki's desk. Aki had learned that Nami was trying to make a map of the world, though a noisy crew made that difficult to get some peace long enough to make good progress. Though Aki had to admit the silence was starting to get to her.

"H-how do you cope?" The white-haired girl asked, fiddling with her hands in her lap.

Nami didn't look away from her map, though she didn't seem annoyed. "Hm? What do you mean?"

"H-how do you cope with the b-boys? I mean, I-I know how loud Luffy can get… But with the rest of the c-crew… I'm surprised you haven't left yet…" Aki was honestly surprised. It took a lot to get used to the way Luffy acted, the others seemed odd too. Then again, they may be more bearable compared to Luffy if you met them for the first time.

Speaking about loud, you could hear the commotion downstairs in the bar, meaning that at least one of them had returned. The customers had seemed to have taken a liking to the pirates. It was odd. Many pirate crews came to their little village and many became customers, but their regulars usually just kept to themselves and stayed out of the way of them. Though this may have just been that Aki knew Luffy already, so the regulars felt more comfortable around them. She had wanted to make her friends stay a good one, but it already seemed like she had ruined it by getting into trouble. She'd deal with it herself, but she felt like if she tried, they'd only help anyway.

Nami was silent for a moment or two, looking at the doorway, seeming to think about things, until she turned her attention back to Akemi. "Well… It's not actually that bad. I mean, I know it seems like it's a lot to deal with, and Luffy always finds trouble for us, but so far I wouldn't change anything. As odd as it may sound. I actually feel like we will get far in the world."

Aki nodded and Nami went back to her map, she was about to say something else before Nami started speaking again and interrupted her. "Now, I'd like to get this finished before anything else happens. So I'd prefer to not get disturbed."

"Ah, a-alright. I guess I'll go downstairs then…" She said as she stood up in a hurry. She didn't want to make Nami upset, she looked like a scary person to get angry.

Akemi left the room and gently closed the door behind her. She might as well use this time to see what was going on downstairs. It didn't seem like a bad sort of commotion, just that people were getting excited over something. She wanted to know what it was, she could hear a voice that she recognized as one of the Straw Hats, but it certainly wasn't Luffy. She didn't even know where the boy had gone, likely exploring the island. Sanji had left to get food for the ship not long before Nami had joined Aki, so it wouldn't have been him. Nami was, of course, upstairs and Zoro was god knows where, maybe with Luffy? So that left the one member that she hadn't really spoken to, Usopp. And when she was finally downstairs, the long-nosed sniper had the attention of almost the entire bar. Even the brothers were watching from their places behind the bar.

Stood with one foot on a chair and the other on the ground, arm raised and pointing at the ceiling in a dramatic pose. "And that was when, I, the amazing Captain Usopp," his raised hand came down to thump his chest, "felled the mighty beast and saved the entire town! The people celebrated me for weeks on end, but alas! My crew and I had to leave to go to our next adventure. But! Just as we set sail-"

Loud laughter interrupted the sniper from continuing his story. It came from one of the men that was always in the bar. There had been rumors that he used to be a pirate in his youth, others say that he used to be a marine, but no one knew what he used to be. No one cared that much either way, he was a good guy to pretty much anyone and everyone's drinking buddy. Yuuto was usually seen with the man whenever he had time off from work. But, right now he didn't seem to be buying the tales that Usopp was telling.

"As if, boy! You don't look like you've seen, let alone fought, any monsters like that in your life! You should see some of the beasts that live in the forests here. Plus, don't you think that we would have heard about you by now, no?" The man questioned.

What he was saying was logical since if someone was doing what Usopp said he was, then there would have at least been rumors about such a traveler or even pirate. But none of them had heard of any of this before, except maybe the creatures. Most of them seemed like sea kings, what Aki had heard anyway.

Usopp looked shocked, taken back by how someone found out his lies. Though, in Aki's mind, it was pretty easy since he was being so dramatic. But, there were also a lot of people that seemed to believe him. Maybe for the same reasons. Who knew? She did know, however, that she was amused by the stories. She had only heard one of them whilst she was listening to the others, but they were still funny and interesting. But right now, she was more interested in the conversation in front of her.

"W-what!? How did you know!?" Usopp shouted, others around him seeming just as surprised. Though, he soon recovered and continued talking, "ok… That one may not have been true entirely, but! I have slayed giant creatures before!"

Aki chuckled at the conversation between the two. It was amusing that the sniper was till trying to get people to believe that he was tougher than he seemed. It was more amusing at how many people believed him. She knew nothing about the guy, so it could have been true, but she still believed that it wasn't. Plus, Luffy was the captain, not Usopp. Even if it was hard to believe.

She was about to get a little closer before a large hand was placed on her shoulder. Ahe looked up to find that it was Yuuto. Both him and Suzu had been working on trying to get some information out from the guy that they had captured last night. The serious look on his face gave her some hope.

It seemed like they would be able to get rid of this problematic situation.

* * *

 **A/N:** Ok guys! Sorry that I did not update like I keep saying I would. So I wont make any promises anymore. This chapter only exists cause I had no assignments due in this week. I'm off next week and I really want to get this bit finished so I have some art commissions to see to and then I will get to it. And I WILL.

Also, sorry if this chapter seems a bit all over the place? I was extremely tired when I wrote this. But, I have updated the cover image to something much better! I will be making an even better one, I've just been working on my art lately and decided I wanted to draw this! I actually have art of Akemi now, which is stored on my account.

I know this sounds like a dumb thing to think about since my updating isn't regular, but I've been thinking about writing another OP fanfictions but with a few elements of Monster Hunter. Mainly just a hunter and a few monsters. Only because I had a moment where I was thinking about what would happen if the Straw Hats fought the monsters in MH. Likely wipe the floor with them as hunters stood in the background wondering why they had been failing so much...

But, thank you all for sticking with this! And for the 3k views, 44 followers and 34 favourites!


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